Darwinian Challenge to Aristotle

Paper Summary:

In this article the writer notes that according to Aristotle, one of the greatest influences on the development of Western civilization, the natural world is unchanging, eternal and purposeful. The writer points out that this epistemology dominated Western civilization for the two thousand years leading up to Darwin's theory of evolution by natural selection. The writer discusses that Darwin's contribution was to make the theory public, to promote it and to provide extensive empirical evidence to back it up. At the heart of the theory is the revelation that nature is not immutable, but subject to change. The writer concludes that continued resistance is to be expected, but not to be overly feared; it is the inevitable death throes of an ideology that is giving way to one that is simply a fitter adaptation to the natural world and its demands on the human species.

From the Paper:

"With evidence mounting at every turn and only minor modifications being made to evolutionary theory (thanks to work mainly in molecular biology) many in the scientific community are astounded that a strong current of anti-Darwinism still persists anywhere, let alone in a modern nation such as the United States. Religious fundamentalism and intelligent design proponents have challenged the Darwinian world view since it upset the Aristotelian roughly one hundred fifty years ago. The scientific consensus is strongly in favor of evolution and the empirical evidence support the claims of evolutionary biology. Why does a current of opposition to the Darwinian world view still persist? It persists because two millennia is a long time for a cultural meme such as the Aristotelian world view to become entrenched and self-supporting. The Darwinians shouldn't be surprised that there is still resistance to their position after more than one hundred years--they should be amazed that after such a short historical period, the Darwinian world view is successfully subduing Aristotelian resistance wherever it is found."

Sample of Sources Used:

• Brix, H. James. "Darwin or Wallace? Scientific and Religious Interpretations of the Human Being." Mobile, Atlanta Harbinger. 13 May 1997. 12 Dec. 2006 <http://www.theharbinger.org/articles/erl_sci/darwin.html>.
• Mayr, Ernst. "Darwin's Influence on Modern Thought." Public Address, Stockholm. 23 Sept. 1999. 12 Dec. 2006 <http://www.biologie.uni-hamburg.de/b-online/e36_2/darwin_influence.htm>.
• Mitchell, Colin W. "The Development of the Present Western World-View." 12 Dec. 2006 <http://origins.swau.edu/bible/development.html>.
• O'Rourke, Fran. "Aristotle and the Metaphysics of Evolution." The Review of Metaphysics 58 (September 2004): 3-59.
• "Road to Modern Evolutionary Biology, The." 12 Dec. 2006 <http://faculty.evansville.edu/de3/evolutionweb2/history.html>.

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